Top 10 Popular Mental Disorders

10 Pics

1. Derealization Disorder

Derealization is an alteration in the perception or experience of the external world so that it seems strange or unreal. Other symptoms include feeling as though one’s environment is lacking in spontaneity, emotional coloring and depth. It is a dissociative symptom of manyconditions, such as psychiatric and neurological disorders, and not a standalone disorder. It is also a transient side effect of acute drug intoxication, sleep deprivation, and stress. Dealing with Derealization comes with some real scary feelings. People often add second fears and “what if’s” to their already overwhelming symptoms. This makes things so much worse than they have to be. They scare themselves creating more anxiety and more panic to the mix. Coping skills exist and they take some practice to get used to them but I encourage you to practice everyday. By mastering these skills, you will make things easier on yourself and bring yourself back to feeling better than you have in a long time.

2. Anorexia nervosa

Anorexia nervosa is a psychiatric disorder characterized by abnormal eating behavior, severe self-induced weight loss, and psychiatric comorbidities. People with anorexia have an extreme fear of gaining weight, which causes them to try to maintain a weight far less than normal. They will do almost anything to avoid gaining weight, including starving themselves or exercising too much. People with anorexia have a distorted body image — they think they are fat (even when they are extremely thin) and won’t maintain a proper weight.Anorexia is an emotional disorder that focuses on food, but it is actually an attempt to deal with perfectionism and a desire to gain control by strictly regulating food and weight. People with anorexia often feel that their self esteem is tied to how thin they are.

3. Bulimia nervosa

Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating, or consuming a large amount of food in a short amount of time, followed by an attempt to rid oneself of the food consumed, usually by purging (vomiting) and/or by laxative, diuretics or excessive exercise. Bulimia nervosa is nine times more likely to occur in women than men (Barker 2003). Antidepressants, especially SSRIs, are widely used in the treatment of bulimia nervosa. (Newell and Gournay 2000). Also called as compulsive eating disorder, excessive eating is found in quite a number of teenagers. This disorder is characterized by intake of food in excess quantities, which is far more than the normal requirement of the body. Teenagers with this disorder take food not due to hunger but as a means of getting rid of stress and suppressing their depression. The most noticeable change occurring due to this disorder is obesity that can lead to various other complications including heart attack, stroke and diabetes at a very early age.

4. Exhibitionism

Exhibitionism is the exposure of one’s genitals to non-consenting strangers for sexual arousal or gratification, also known by more common terms such as “flashing”. Exhibitionism may involve either display of the genitals or active masturbation in front of the victim. The shock of the victim provides the sexual arousal for the exhibitionist. In most cases, when no other factors are present, there is no actual contact with the victim. Some have suggested, however, that there may be two categories of exhibitionism: aggressive and non-aggressive. Exhibitionists use a number of ploys to attract unsuspecting victims and although most incidents are carried out in public places, perpetrators tend to select more isolated areas or opportunities where exposure will be limited only to the victim(s). such as: quiet public areas (eg outside or in a mall) , while sitting on a park bench, or while driving their car. Many do not make serious attempts to hide their identity. Taking such risks may constitute a necessary component for their sexual arousal.

5. Fregoli delusion

Fregoli delusion is a rare psychological disorder that causes a person to believe that various people around them, are instead one person who is able to change appearance, or is in disguise. The name, Fregoli, comes from the Italian actor Leopoldo Fregoli, world renown for his ability to change his appearance quickly during his stage act. Fregoli delusion is a monothematic delusions, as it incorporates only one delusional topic. Scientifically, psychiatrists believe it is related to the failure of normal face perception. Causes include L-DOPA treatment for Parkinson’s disease, traumatic brain injury, and lesions in the fusiform gyrus (as this section of the brain processes color information and is necessary in face and body recognition). Fregoli delusion is often coupled with psychological disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder.

6. Ganser syndrome

Ganser syndrome is a type of factitious disorder, a mental illness in which a person acts as if he or she has a physical or mental illness when in truth, he or she has caused the symptoms. People with factitious disorders act this way because of an inner need to be seen as ill or injured, not to achieve a concrete benefit, such as financial gain. They are even willing to undergo painful or risky tests and operations in order to obtain the sympathy and special attention given to people who are truly ill. Factitious disorders are considered mental illnesses because they are associated with severe emotional difficulties. Ganser syndrome is very rare. Most of the available reports are individual case reports, many of which were reported on incarcerated patients. It is stated by some that the syndrome is more common in men (80 percent) than in women and most often occurs in the late teens and early adult years. This male dominance might most likely be influenced by the fact that the ratio of males to females in the prison system is quite high, and often reflects a greater minority representation.

7. Gender identity disorder

Gender identity disorder is a conflict between a person’s actual physical gender and the gender that person identifies himself or herself as. For example, a person identified as a boy may actually feel and act like a girl. The person experiences significant discomfort with the biological sex they were born. Some people feel that their body does not match who they are on the inside. Some choose to present themselves as the gender they identify with through clothing and cosmetics. Others change their physical appearance through hormones and surgery. Mental health professionals believe there are three components that make up our gender identity: our sexual orientation, behavior and mannerism preferences, and core gender identity (that gut feeling we have about the gender we identify with). In most of us, these three components and our anatomy align as male or female. For some, however, these components don’t all match up.

8. Hypomanic episode

Hypomania is a mood state in bipolar disorder. Hypomania literally means below mania, or less severe mania. Hypomania is not as debilitating as mania. The person remains able to function well in day to day activities. Psychosis does not happen in hypomania. Patients suffering from severe depression who experience hypomania as a side effect of antidepressants (for example), may prove to have a form of bipolar disorder that has previously gone unrecognized. However, drug-induced hypomania is not invariably indicative of bipolar affective disorders. The difference between uni- and bi-polar disorders is essential for analysis of switches (mood changes). Consequently, it is important for researchers and mental health professionals to distinguish drug-induced hypomania in bipolar patients from drug-induced hypomania in unipolar (non-bipolar) depressives.

9. Anxiety disorder

Anxiety disorder is a blanket term covering several different forms of abnormal and pathological fear and anxiety. Anxiety is a natural human reaction that involves mind and body. It serves an important basic survival function: Anxiety is an alarm system that is activated whenever a person perceives danger or threat. The term anxiety covers four aspects of experiences an individual may have: mental apprehension, physical tension, physical symptoms and dissociative anxiety . Anxiety disorder is divided into generalized anxiety, phobic, and panic disorders; each has its own characteristics and symptoms and they require different treatment.

10. Conduct disorder

Conduct disorder is a very serious behavior disorder affecting children and teenagers. It’s a life interfering behavior problem that negatively impacts the child, family and community. Conduct disorder is a major public health problem because youth with conduct disorder not only inflict serious physical and psychological harm on others, but they are at greatly increased risk for incarceration, injury, depression, substance abuse, and death by homicide and suicide. The behaviors of a conduct disordered child or teenager often seriously threatens the basic wellbeing, safety and legal rights of others.